A colorful palette of wide-ranging artistic success
A Renaissance man may be described as an individual talented in all areas of human endeavor or, simply, as someone who does a little bit of everything, yet does it extremely well. This description is well applied to Herb Alpert.
World-renowned for his accomplishments in music, Alpert possesses a creative side of which few folks are aware. Yes, the legendary trumpeter is still making great music-as witnessed by his latest album, I Feel You--but even at the age of 76 the American icon is continually expanding his interests.
"The beauty of being a jazz musician is that it's so... in the moment," said Alpert during a phone interview from his Malibu home. "It's so spontaneous. And, the same can be said for my other interests."
Those interests include painting and sculpting, operating the Vibrato Grill (a restaurant/jazz club in Bel Air, California) and overseeing the Herb Alpert Foundation (which he founded in the late '80s).
"Painting and sculpting are so seductive," Alpert explained, "and I do it for no other reason than my own pleasure. The Foundation exists because I've always felt that my success has given me the opportunity to give something back to our communities and to people who need our help."
Alpert's musical journey that began in the 1950s carved a path through the culturally rich 1960s and eventually introduced a generation of listeners to some of the most influential bands and musicians in pop music history. And, it all began in an elementary school music class.
"I started playing when I was 8," Alpert said. "They let us pick from a bunch of different instruments on a table in our classroom, and I picked up the trumpet. I couldn't make a sound, and it took me awhile to figure out what to do with it, but I was obviously fortunate to have stuck with it."
Once Alpert figured out "what to do" he never looked back. By 1957 the trumpeter had met with enough success to choose music as his profession, and he began a songwriting association with Lou Adler (who would go on to produce Sam Cooke, Carole King, the Mamas & the Papas, Johnny Rivers and a host of others).
Although he had impressive success (co-writing "Wonderful World" with Cooke, producing Jan & Dean and signing to RCA Records), it wasn't until 1962 that Herb Alpert's name and sound would become immediately recognizable.
Alpert partnered with music promoter Jerry Moss that year, and the duo formed their own record label. Meanwhile, Alpert was recording a song on which he would layer the stirring resonance of mariachi horns--an action that would soon come to define his discernible sound.
"I was just trying to do on the trumpet what Les Paul was doing on the guitar," Alpert said.
By the end of 1962, that song-"The Lonely Bull" by the then-named Tijuana Brass featuring Herb Alpert-would become a Top 10 hit for the newly-formed A&M Records that Alpert and Moss established.
The rest of the musical tale should be familiar to all: mega-hits such as "A Taste of Honey" and "This Guy's in Love with You," eight Grammy awards, 29 albums certified either gold or platinum, five No. 1 hits and upwards of 72 million albums sold worldwide.
Even more impressive are the numbers attached to A&M. As home to artists such as Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Quincy Jones, Cat Stevens, Peter Frampton, the Carpenters, the Police, R.E.M., Janet Jackson, Sheryl Crow and countless others, the A&M brand-at the time of its sale to Polydor in 1989-could lay claim to more than 200 gold records, just short of 100 platinum and multi-platinum recordings. On average, A&M received two Grammys, seven gold records and four platinum albums per year for 30 years.
"One of the things I'm most proud of about A&M is that we were a record label with integrity," Alpert emphasized as he relayed a story about a young Waylon Jennings.
Moss and Alpert agreed to release Jennings from a just-signed contract after Chet Atkins had tried to lure him to RCA. Sensing that such a move would be beneficial to the future country superstar's career, the duo terminated the deal and watched as Waylon became a household name.
"That was a defining moment for us," Alpert continued. "I knew at that point what kind of label we were going to be."
Attitude, honesty and work ethic are among the numerous qualities that have made Herb Alpert one of the most successful and creative musicians on the planet.
"Let me expose a big myth about creative people," Alpert said, allowing himself a pronounced chuckle. "All of us are born with creativity; what people don't realize is that it needs to be developed."
True to his word, the celebrated horn player decided many years ago that he wanted to try his hand at something he had never attempted: painting.
"During all those tours and all that traveling around the world, I would visit local art museums," Alpert explained. "It gave me quite a buzz, so I bought some brushes, paint and canvas and went at it."
The results of the venture were glorious impressionistic pieces that are not only pleasing to the eye, but are also consistently praised by critics and featured in galleries across the nation.
"I find it rather embarrassing to show in a gallery," Alpert admitted. "But, it has been a great experience for me. I truly have no complaints."
His work has been displayed in more than a dozen exhibitions-often alongside his sculptures, another artistic outlet that he has pursued.
"No, I had never sculpted before either," Alpert confessed. "A friend of mine handed me a piece of wax one time, and I just started shaping it and playing around with it. The finished product turned out pretty nice, so I took it to a foundry and had it bronzed."
Now, Alpert's statues are not only fixtures in the expansive gardens surrounding his oceanfront home, but are also as critically acclaimed and as eagerly sought as his paintings. Some pieces, which range in size from mere inches to 18 feet, sell for more than $250 million.
"But, it's not about the money," Alpert added. "It's about living life with a purpose and truly enjoying everything that I do."
Visual art success has not tempted Alpert to backburner his musical creativity as proved by the latest release from him and his wife of 37 years, the Grammy award-winning Lani Hall. I Feel You not only features sizzling covers of Van Morrison's "Moondance," The Beatles' "Blackbird" and Peggy Lee's "Fever," but also contains a reworking of the Tijuana Brass' 1966 hit "What Now My Love."
His tour in support of the album is winding to a close with only a few shows remaining between now and November, which included a dazzling performance at Thornton Winery's Champagne Jazz Series last month in Temecula, California. Accompanying Alpert and Hall were members of Alpert's touring band: Michael Shapiro (drums), Bill Cantos (keyboards and vocals) and Hussain Jiffry (bass).
"We've always been about taking familiar songs and putting our own spin on them," said Alpert. "And, that's not too difficult to do when you have a wife who's a world-class vocalist. Lani-particularly when she is performing--is also an in-the-moment type of person."
Spontaneity is also evident in more than a few of Alpert's philanthropic efforts, most notably in his literal rescuing of the financially distressed Harlem School of the Arts. Just when the school was preparing to close its doors, Alpert opened a newspaper and read a story regarding the institution's fiscal woes. He and Hall, with checkbook in hand, flew to New York and remedied the school's money issues.
"Yeah, that was a rather knee-jerk reaction," Alpert laughed as he explained the Harlem School scenario. "Much more thought goes into who will receive the foundation's assistance than was demonstrated in that instance."
Since its inception, the Herb Alpert Foundation has distributed more than $100 million, a great deal of which is focused on the arts, arts education and communities that can benefit from such cultural assistance.
"I've been blessed with success," Alpert reiterated. "Not only do I feel compelled to pass those blessings on, but helping people reach their full potential is truly one of the greatest joys in my life. Plus, I want to do everything I can to help keep jazz alive."
The music, you see, is never very far from Alpert's mind.
"I'm always thinking about music," said Alpert. "I think about music every day--just like I think about painting and sculpting and everything I enjoy every day. I'm at a point in my life where I'm only going to do things that I like to do."
Parts of those musical thoughts are directed toward the next Herb Alpert recording.
"I'm thinking about a world music-type album," Alpert disclosed. "But, we'll see. Next year would have been A&M's 50th anniversary. I'm thinking about reworking 'The Lonely Bull'--maybe do it with a full orchestra."
He is also contemplating releasing a recording of cover versions of A&M's top singles by the label's most popular artists.
Whatever the venture, Alpert will no doubt emerge from the other side with another successful addition to his legacy.
"I still get a lot of pleasure out of playing music," Alpert concluded. "It's what I do."
Herb Alpert is scheduled to perform at the INFINITI Summer Concert Series presented by ROLEX South Coast Plaza on Sept. 2 at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Beach, California. For more information on Alpert, including his complete tour schedule, visit www.herbalpert.com.
Discography
1962 The Lonely Bull (A&M)
1963 Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, Vol. 2 (A&M)
1964 South of the Border (A&M)
1965 Whipped Cream & Other Delights (A&M)
1965 !!Going Places!! (A&M)
1966 What Now My Love (A&M)
1966 S.R.O. (A&M)
1967 Sounds Like (A&M)
1967 Herb Alpert's Ninth (A&M)
1968 The Beat of the Brass (A&M)
1968 Christmas Album (A&M)
1969 Warm (A&M)
1969 The Brass Are Comin' (A&M)
1979 Rise (A&M)
2001 Herb Alpert: Definitive Hits (A&M)
2005 Lost Treasures: Rare & Unreleased (Shout Factory)
2006 Whipped Cream & Other Delights - Re-Whipped (Shout Factory)
2009 Anything Goes (Concord Jazz)
2011 I Feel You (Concord Records)
